Henderson Chambers - True Picture

Henderson Chambers pupillage review 2025 

The Chambers 

When picturing the life of a barrister, you might envision days spent holed up in the library doing legal research, or locked up in the office preparing a case. The good news is, the reality of life at the bar isn’t quite so solitary, especially if you find yourself working on group action cases. Enter Henderson Chambers. Situated next to the gorgeous Middle Temple gardens, this set offers a spread of practices that’s just as flourishing as the greenery on its doorstep. In fact, chambers director Jason Housden tells us how it has cultivated a reputation as “the leading set for product liability, health and safety, and group actions.” Our colleagues over at Chambers UK Bar certainly agree too, awarding the set top marks across all three. The set’s consumer law and environment practices have also been blossoming. However, while firmly settled within these specialist areas, the set is well-versed in commercial work such as arbitration and finance, leading Housden to the conclusion that “we’re a commercial set of a different type. You can expect us to be more visible on the commercial side, while still maintaining our strong foothold in our niche practices.” 

“We’re no stranger to any type of instruction.” 

While COVID might seem like a distant memory for some, it’s certainly still a major source of work for Henderson. “It’s an important part of our work,” says Housden, “there’s lots of litigation arising from COVID, and we’ve got a number of people involved in the inquiry,” Prashant Popat KC was instructed by AstraZeneca, Andrew Kinnier worked with the Welsh Government and Tim Green KC was retained by the HSE, all in relation to the COVID inquiry. Members of chambers have also been involved in the Grenfell inquiry. Investigations have kept Henderson’s barristers busy as well, with head of pupillage Adam Heppinstall KC leading the inquiry into the appointment of Richard Sharp as chair of the BBC, producing a report which then prompted Sharp’s resignation. Consequently, as you might expect, “our client base is broad,” Housden tells us, “we’ve got connections with a range of firms, and we do plenty of government work as well. We’re no stranger to any type of instruction.” 

The Pupillage Experience 

Pupils at Henderson complete four three-month seats with different supervisors. First-seat pupils work exclusively with their supervisors, before taking on work for other members of chambers from their second seat onwards. While getting their feet under the desk, newbies get exposure to a range of practices within chambers. After all, as Heppinstall puts it: “I want pupils to experience all of our practices, or as many of them as possible.” 

On top of the set’s signature group action work, one pupil had enjoyed spending their first six working on “everything from commercially focused work to employment and immigration. It’s a really broad spectrum.” What’s more, we heard that almost all work is live, so pupils can start making an impact on matters from the get-go. Our interviewees had the opportunity to take part in plenty of research, drafted skeleton arguments, and prepared advice notes. The most recent pupil cohort also got the chance to observe one of the silks’ eight-day defamation trial: “It was fantastic to watch such excellent advocacy. I learned a lot from that.” 

From their second seat, pupils will receive feedback forms – assessed pieces of written work for other members of chambers. As one junior tenant helpfully explained, “silks or senior members of chambers give you discrete pieces of work and then write feedback on it. They’re live, so you’re helping someone do their job in a collaborative way, and you can ask them for advice if you’re stuck.” The types of task available depend on whatever senior members of chambers are working on, but we heard that assignments can include research notes, advice and particulars of claim. What’s more, these feedback forms help pupils get exposure within chambers and can prove to be a helpful springboard when getting work as a tenant: “Members told me they liked some work I did during pupillage, so brought me onto similar matters as a junior.” All of these assignments and the corresponding feedback are added to a portfolio of assessed work which is considered as part of the tenancy decision, but more on that later… 

“Pupils are in court every single week…” 

Three advocacy exercises make up the final assessed part of pupillage, and test pupils on their skills in the run-up to and during their practising second six. The observing members of chambers progress in seniority each time, with a pupil recalling silks sitting in on their final assessment. So, while there’s a natural level of pressure, it’s all part of how “they simulate what being a barrister is really like during pupillage.” As one pupil evidenced, “it mirrors what happens when you go to court. You have about a week to prep, and there’s quite often a lot of material to work with.” However, by the time pupils get to their last one, they will have already had extensive experience on their feet in court. “Pupils are in court every single week,” a junior reckoned, explaining how their own introduction to court life consisted of “stuff that’s very simple, like 10–15-minute hearings, before building up to longer trials to ease you into it.” This can include county court work and employment tribunals, according to Housden, as well as gas injunctions, possessions and housing matters.  

By the nine-month mark, when the tenancy decision approaches, pupils have already had a decent taste of what life as a Henderson barrister will be like. Of course, waiting for that all-important decision can still be nerve-wracking, but the general consensus was that pupils would have a good idea of where they stand. Alongside the feedback forms, pupils also receive comments on every piece of work they do for their supervisors, sometimes within the hour! “They’re very insistent on giving you very regular, very direct feedback,” said a junior, “that means you can identify what exactly you need to improve as you go on.” On the formal side of things, pupils have mid-seat and end-of-seat appraisals with their supervisors, and reports from these count towards the tenancy decision. 

“It really does add to the pupillage experience, both workwise and personally…” 

Perhaps the most unique part of pupillage at Henderson is something that doesn’t count towards the tenancy decision at all! Around halfway through the year, pupils are invited to a secondment in the Turks and Caicos islands for a month to get a taste of the “very different” work done in another jurisdiction. The experience is optional, but sunny 26-degree weather is hard to resist when compared to a gloomy March in London. What’s more, the experience is hosted and fully funded by one of Henderson’s door tenants, Conrad Griffiths KC, so that they can focus entirely on the work and cultural exchange. “It really does add to the pupillage experience, both work-wise and personally,” said a pupil; “I worked on a few judicial reviews, a couple of trust cases and did quite a lot of fraud and conspiracy work. I’ve not really come across all of that in chambers, so it was good to get the exposure over there.” 

Interviewees agreed that the nature of the set’s work does a lot to set the cultural tone: “There’s a togetherness about it,” says Housden, “it might come out of the large teams of counsel on long-running group actions that we have – we all have to get along!” According to one junior, “you end up forming really good friendships with people as you’re working with them so much. It makes this a very social set!” Heppinstall also explains how “we don’t have any of the more curious, old-fashioned traditions. We’ve never been the kind of chambers where pupils have to attend 4 o’clock tea, but we do welcome everyone to Tuesday morning breakfasts and Thursday evening socials so that people can still see each other post-COVID.”  

The Application Process 

Henderson accepts applications via the Pupillage Gateway - all marked blind and processed using contextualisation system Rare Recruitment. About 30 candidates make it through the first sift to the first round of interviews. This initial interview will typically last around 15 minutes, where three members of chambers ask interviewees various competency questions. According to Heppinstall: “We want to appoint people who will be successful barristers, so we’re looking for those qualities through candidates’ skills and experience.” There’s also a substantive law question which “is not necessarily a very hard-edged piece of law, but it’s enough for them to get their teeth into.” 

“We’re looking for a ‘Goldilocks’ approach. There are some interviewees who put on a full advocacy performance which, funnily enough, seems a bit too barristerial! Others, meanwhile, don't appear to have thought it through, so we want something in-between the two…” 

Around twelve make the shortlist for a second, 30-minute interview, which is conducted by a larger number of interviewers. Candidates are asked a more difficult law-based question so, as Heppinstall tells us, “we are testing legal knowledge, but not heavily. We’re conscious that we’re interviewing people at very different stages of their career, so it’s meaty enough to provoke a debate but not unfair to those who have not yet completed their legal studies.” Before the interview, applicants receive information on a case – “a big one that happened that year within one of our practice areas, or a policy issue,” says Heppinstall – and are asked to present ideas in response to a related question, such as which stance they think is correct. A pupil explained how it’s essentially “a test of your ability to present an argument. They’ll ask you questions so you should expect interruptions.” Heppinstall enlightened us with some top tips for this stage: “We’re looking for a ‘Goldilocks’ approach. There are some interviewees who put on a full advocacy performance which, funnily enough, seems a bit too barristerial! Others, meanwhile, don't appear to have thought it through, so we want something in-between the two. Those who think about the question, have a structure and understand the advocacy abilities needed, while keeping it simple but effective, are typically the most successful.” 

As is often the case, it’s crucial to understand the set before you hit send on that application. Our interviewees told us that, while it is indeed a product liability and group action set, prospective applicants should understand that Henderson is certainly no one trick pony: “At a chambers with as many practices as ours, rocking up and only wanting to do product liability isn’t really going to work!” Heppinstall quips. A junior echoed this sentiment, assuring that “Henderson’s practice is so wide and varied that we actually just want people who are smart, nice, and want to make the most of our heavy court practice.”